14.08.1997

Good lord!

Lords, ladies and her majesty’s loyal nationalists join establishment lash-up

Yet another group has joined the establishment coalition cuddling under the Scotland Forward umbrella. On top of groupings such as Doctors For and Youth For who have already added their voices to the clamour for a ‘yes, yes’, we now have - wait for it - Lords and Ladies For.

The Earl of Mar and Kellie, whose ancestor (the sixth earl) actively promoted the Act of Union almost 300 years ago, said: “I’m anxious that we find a solution to the frustrations that arose from the union. I believe that the parliament is a very good thing for Scotland.”

Another Scottish peer to throw his weight behind the ‘yes, yes’ campaign was Lord Semphill. In 1707 his ancestor (the 10th lord) was against the union with England. He said: “Although I know that there are many in Scotland who have very very strong reservations, I think the union has been an enormous success.”

Of course he is right. For aristocrats as well as the establishment as a whole - Scottish, Welsh or English - the constitutional monarchy at the heart of the union has done its job. It has cemented their rule over the working classes and ensured that British imperialism could dominate and exploit large areas of the world. No wonder they are so enthusiastic for a new arrangement that they hope will safeguard their power.

Isn’t it strange that SML is just as enthusiastic?

With support for the royal family falling below 50% according to a recent Guardian/ICM poll, we can begin to see cracks in the constitutional monarchy opening up. At the moment the opposition to the monarchy takes a passive form. Blair is keen to pacify discontent with the UK state, as we have seen in Scotland, and re-establish confidence in a thorough and wide-ranging programme of reforms.

As with the referendum in Scotland, our job is to turn discontent into action which threatens to bring down the whole constitution, the state it serves and New Labour’s plans to rescue it.

Peter Manson